Alstom’s Widnes plant has completed the £117m two-year programme to refurbish the 56 Pendolino trainsets which Avanti West Coast leases from Angel Trains, with the last re-entering service on June 24.
TransPennine Express has introduced language name badges, using flags to identify members of staff who can converse in languages other than English.
The High Speed Rail Group has appointed HS1 Ltd’s Strategy & Regulation Director Mattias Bjornfors to its board. The lobbying group said his extensive expertise ’will provide invaluable economic guidance to the HSRG, ensuring it continues to advocate effectively for the development of high speed rail in the UK’.
Avanti West Coast and Alstom gave Year 10 Design & Technology pupils from Meadow Park School in Coventry a tour of Oxley depot in Wolverhampton as part of the Feel Good Feel Trips initiative. This aimed ‘to give youngsters a feel for the railway and the many career opportunities’, said AWC Head of Fleet & Engineering Stacy Thundercliffe. ‘If we have given just one person the confidence to pursue a role in the railway, then it’s job done.’
Ellis Patents has expanded its range of its Pegasus cable hangers developed to meet London Underground fire safety requirements. ‘We believe it caters to every cable hanging scenario’, said Sales Director Kelly Brown. ’Ingenious Retro-Fit options enable quick and easy installation over existing, potentially damaged hangers without disrupting power supplies. This minimises downtime and streamlines the safety upgrade process.’
Ben Woods has joined Porterbrook as Engineering Business Development Director. He started his rail career as a Graduate Technical Support Engineer at Porterbrook in 2004, and has since held senior engineering roles at East Midlands Trains, Arriva Trains Wales, Network Rail, IPEX Consulting and most recently FirstGroup.
Surplus cooked meals from Caledonian Sleeper’s southbound services are being donated to London-based food charity City Harvest for distribution to foodbanks, refuges, shelters, soup kitchens and community groups.
Nexus has launched a limited-edition Metro Pop card featuring icons from the LGBTQIA+ community. Designed by Em T Sharp, they will be available at this year’s Northern Pride Festival in Newcastle on July 19-21.
RAIB makes three recommendations to Northern Trains in its report into an incident on May 3 2023 when a Class 323 EMU left Styal station with five doors open. The first seeks to improve the management of the risk of trains being in service with known intermittent faults. The second considers how the operational risk of trains being in service with safety systems isolated is managed. The third looks to provide staff with the skills and strategies to manage out-of-course incidents and stressful situations. A learning point reminds train operators of the importance of complying with operating rules when isolating safety systems.
Southeastern is seeking additional volunteers to join its Accessible Travel Advisory Panel, which was launched in 2021 and provides guidance to enhance the accessibility of trains, stations and digital products. It meets six times a year, and includes members with physical disabilities, as well as people from the neuro-diverse community, and relatives or carers of people with accessibility needs.
RAIB makes four recommendations to London Underground in its report into two ‘trap and drag’ incidents involving passengers’ coats at Archway and Chalk Farm stations in 2023. These concern the understanding of risk, mitigation options, minimum station dwell times and how the design of the task and the cab environment can influence train operators’ attention and awareness. Learning points concern the importance of documenting action plans in accordance with company procedures and recording when safety briefings have been undertaken; the importance of promptly reporting notifiable accidents to RAIB; and the importance of ensuring the risks of relying on the pilot light when deciding whether it is safe to start the train are completely understood.
